Dogs will take over Atascadero Lake Park this Saturday

Heilmann Dog Park hosts 7th annual Dogtoberfest and Wiener Dog Races

For the seventh year in a row, Dogtoberfest and Wiener Dog Races will take place in Atascadero. This year’s event will happen at Atascadero Lake Park on Saturday, Oct. 4 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The annual event will take place rain or shine.

“All of us at Heilmann Dog Park are very excited about partnering with our friends at Lemos Feed and Pet Supply to bring a classic Fall event to Atascadero Lake Park, including the always zany Wiener Dog Races,” Dogtoberfest coordinator Jan Wolff said.

While the main event is the wiener dog races, there are also races for non-wiener dogs — wannabes. The Wiener Wannabes are dogs of any breed under 25 pounds. There will also be divisions for wiener puppies under a year and senior dogs who are over 8 years. After the races have been completed, there is a costume contest for all dogs. The costume contest has prizes, gift certificates and bragging rights for winners, Wolff said.

This year’s event will be the same as last year’s, Wolff said. Nothing has changed from the 2013 event. The highlights of the yearly event, she said are the wiener dog races and wiener wannabe races, the pet costume contest and the raffle that has at least $2,000 worth of prizes.

“My favorite part [is] just seeing all the people in the community enjoy the event, knowing that the funds we raise help to maintain Heilmann Dog Park,” Wolff said. “What can people expect? To have a great time, to laugh, and to eat some great Elks chicken barbecue.”

While the number of dogs participating has varied, there are usually 60 dogs in the races and about 50 pets in the costume contest.